Tennessee hired Dooley, the son of former Georgia coach and athletic director Vince Dooley, away from Louisiana Tech to replace Lane Kiffin on Friday. Derek Dooley is an Athens native and played with Perno on Clarke Central's 1985 state championship team.

"I can't believe he's going to be wearing Tennessee orange," Perno said. "You talk about tough schools to cheer for - obviously Georgia Tech, Florida and Tennessee's in that group - it's extremely difficult to do that. Even if it benefits Georgia, it's really tough to cheer for those schools.

"But I'm best friends with him, so I'll have to definitely support the Orange 99 percent of the time in football. I'm sure he'll do the same for us."

Dooley played tight end and Perno was a fullback at Clarke Central when the Gladiators made the state championship game three straight years in the mid-1980s under head coach Billy Henderson.

Dooley used to help push Perno's shoulder back into socket in the huddle when it sometimes separated during games, Henderson said.

"We've been blessed at Clarke Central with a lot of fine people and Derek is one of them," Henderson said. "Derek wasn't the biggest tight end in the state, but there wasn't a better one.

"He's a gentleman and a leader. He's very competitive and he led by example and he carried himself well. I don't recall ever having to punish him for anything and I had very few that I never had to punish."

Dooley was the head coach and athletic director at Louisiana Tech the last three seasons, the only person in the NCAA Bowl Subdivision to do so. He led Louisiana Tech to a 17-10 win in the 2008 Independence Bowl. Dooley gave Henderson a game ball from that win.

"That ball occupies a very prominent place in our house," Henderson said. "It really meant a lot to me that he'd send something that special to me. It's really special that he'd remember me like that."

Perno has maintained his friendship with Dooley through the years. He watched Dooley coach an under-manned Louisiana Tech team several times and came away impressed.

"Coaching is where he belongs, it's in his blood," Perno said. "He's as good as it gets when you talk about being sharp, being a great communicator and motivator and having a plan. It's probably Tennessee's best hire since (Bruce) Pearl, their basketball coach. He's really loyal and that's what he was born to do."

Dooley played at Virginia and was a lawyer until he switched to a coaching career. He was an assistant at LSU under Nick Saban along with current Clarke Central head coach Leroy Ryals. Dooley went with Saban during his brief stint with the Miami Dolphins before heading to Louisiana Tech.

"My dad is extremely excited for me," Dooley said in a press conference late Friday. "I've kind of seen a part of my dad that I really never saw growing up as he's watched me grow as a coach in my career. I'm told that he gets more nervous than anybody during games and he won't even listen to the games or watch them which shocks me for a guy who's been on the sidelines that long.

"Like any dad, you learn so many intangible values, and I did from him. I'm really blessed to be raised by somebody who conducted himself with class and integrity that he did for so long."

But introducing Tennessee orange into the Dooley household where the preferred colors have been red and black for more than four decades might for take some getting used to, especially for Barbara Dooley who called her son "Precious" when he was growing up.

"What I want to know," Perno said. "Is if Mrs. Dooley is going to wear Tennessee orange now. She might do it for 'Precious.' "